Solar power is a positive development direction in providing energy for private and public needs. But perhaps it is also necessary to know the pros and cons of this natural energy source.
Advantages of solar energy
1. Renewability
Solar power is a renewable energy source, unlike fossil fuels such as coal, oil, gas… which are non-renewable fuel sources. According to NASA calculations, the sun can still provide energy for us for about 6.5 billion years.
2. Abundance and abundance
The potential of solar energy is huge – every day, the earth’s surface enjoys 120,000 terawatts (TW) of sunlight, 20,000 times higher than human needs worldwide (1TW = 1,000 billion W).
3. Sustainable and endless supply
Solar energy is endless and abundant to meet humanity’s energy needs, enough for countless generations to come.
4. Availability
Solar energy can be received and used anywhere in the world – not only near the earth’s equator but also in high latitudes in the north and south. For example, Germany currently occupies a leading position in the world in the use of solar energy and plans to take full advantage of this potential.
5. Ecologically clean
According to recent development trends in the fight for cleaning the earth’s environment, solar energy is the most promising field, which can partly replace energy from non-renewable fuel sources and therefore Therefore, it plays an important role in protecting the environment from global warming. The production, transportation, installation and operation of solar power plants basically do not emit harmful gases into the atmosphere. Even if there is a small amount of emissions, compared to traditional energy sources, this amount of gas is insignificant.
6. Does not make noise
In fact, solar energy production does not use motors like generators, so generating electricity does not make noise.
7. High efficiency, low operating costs
Switching to using solar batteries, households will achieve significant savings in their spending budget. Maintenance and upkeep of the solar energy supply system for households requires very low costs – in 1 year, you only need to clean the solar panels a few times and they are always maintained. Manufacturer warranty period of up to 20-25 years.
8. Widely applicable
The application spectrum of solar energy is very wide – providing electricity in areas that are not connected to the national grid (even in highly developed countries such as the US, Russia, France… there are still areas remote areas are called “electricity blind spots”); used to desalinate seawater in many African countries where fresh water is scarce and even to power satellites in earth orbit. Solar power has recently been called “universal energy”, reflecting the simplicity of integrating solar power into the home power supply system, in parallel with grid power or electricity from other sources.
9. Advanced technology
Solar cell production technology is getting more advanced every day – thin film modules are inserted directly into the material right from the initial processing stage. Japan’s Sharp Corporation, also a solar cell manufacturer, recently introduced an innovative system of energy storage elements for window glass. The latest achievements in the fields of nanotechnology and quantum physics allow us to expect the ability to increase the capacity of solar panels three times compared to today.
Defect
1. High cost
There is an opinion that solar power belongs to an expensive type of energy – this is perhaps the most controversial issue in using this energy source. Because household solar energy storage requires significant initial costs, many countries encourage the use of clean energy sources by providing credits for implementation or Rent solar panels under contracts that are beneficial to the tenant.
2. Unstable
There is a force majeure reality: At night, on cloudy and rainy days, there is no sunlight, so solar energy cannot be the main source of electricity. However, compared to wind power, solar power is still an option with many advantages.
3. High cost of energy storage
The price of batteries that store solar power to get electricity for use at night or when it is not sunny is still quite high compared to the budget of the majority of people. Therefore, at the present time, solar power is not capable of becoming the only source of electricity for households but can only be a supplementary source for grid electricity and other sources.
4. Still pollutes the environment, although very little
Although compared to the production of other types of energy, solar power is more environmentally friendly, some technological processes to manufacture solar panels also come with the emission of greenhouse gases. , nitrogen trifluoride and sulfur hexafluoride
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